Do Banks Offer Equity Release? What Nationwide, Halifax, Lloyds and Others Actually Provide
Many people naturally turn to their bank when considering equity release — but most high street banks do not offer lifetime mortgages directly. Here is a clear breakdown of who does what, and where to go instead.
Most high street banks — including Nationwide, Barclays, Santander, NatWest, and HSBC — do not offer equity release. Halifax and Lloyds offer it through Scottish Widows. Saga, SunLife, and Standard Life are equity release brands operated by specialist providers, not the banks themselves. Specialist lenders such as Aviva, Legal & General, Pure Retirement, and Canada Life are where the mainstream equity release market actually sits.
Why people search for bank equity release
The instinct to approach your bank is understandable. Banks are familiar, trusted institutions that many people have dealt with for decades. If they hold your current account, your savings, and perhaps your mortgage, it is natural to assume they would also be a starting point for equity release.
In practice, the equity release market developed largely independently of the mainstream banking sector. The specialist underwriting required for lifetime mortgages — assessing a loan that may not be repaid for 20 or 30 years, against a property that cannot be repossessed in the normal way — requires a different business model and capital structure to standard retail banking. Most high street banks made a commercial decision not to build this capability.
The result is a market dominated by specialist insurers and later-life lenders rather than the high street brands people know best. Understanding this structure helps avoid a frustrating search through banks that simply do not offer the product you are looking for.
High street banks — the position of each
Nationwide Building Society
Nationwide does not offer equity release or lifetime mortgages. They offer standard residential mortgages and savings products. If you bank with Nationwide and want equity release, you will need to approach a specialist lender — Nationwide will not be able to help with this directly.
Halifax and Bank of Scotland
Halifax and Bank of Scotland — both part of the Lloyds Banking Group — offer equity release through a partnership with Scottish Widows, which is also part of the group. The product is a Scottish Widows lifetime mortgage. Halifax and Bank of Scotland act as a route to this product rather than as direct lenders in their own right. The underlying product, underwriting, and administration is Scottish Widows'.
Lloyds Bank
Lloyds Bank also offers equity release through Scottish Widows via the same arrangement as Halifax. If you enquire about equity release at Lloyds, you will be directed to the Scottish Widows product. Comparing this against the whole market through a whole-of-market adviser will tell you whether it represents the most suitable option for your circumstances.
Barclays
Barclays does not offer equity release or lifetime mortgages. They have occasionally offered standard later-life mortgage products for older borrowers, but do not have a lifetime mortgage product. Barclays is not a source of equity release.
Santander
Santander does not offer equity release or lifetime mortgages. Their mortgage range covers standard residential products only. Santander is not a source of equity release.
NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland
NatWest and RBS do not offer equity release or lifetime mortgages. Both are part of the NatWest Group and neither has a lifetime mortgage product in their range.
HSBC
HSBC does not offer equity release or lifetime mortgages in the UK. They offer standard residential mortgages and do not have a later-life lending product that functions as equity release.
The "bank-branded" equity release providers — what they actually are
Several well-known consumer brands offer equity release under their name while the underlying product comes from a specialist provider. This can cause confusion, particularly for people who have other financial products with those brands.
Saga Equity Release
Saga equity release is provided by Hub Financial Solutions, which is part of Just Group plc — the specialist later-life lender formerly known as Just Retirement. Saga is a consumer brand serving the over-50s market. The equity release product and underwriting behind the Saga name is Just Group's. If you take out a Saga equity release plan, Just Group is your lender.
SunLife Equity Release
SunLife equity release is provided by Key Retirement Solutions Ltd under a white-label arrangement. SunLife is a brand operated by Phoenix Group, which acquired it from AXA. The equity release advice and brokerage service behind the SunLife name is Key's. See: Key equity release — independent overview.
Standard Life Equity Release
Standard Life equity release is also provided through Key Retirement Solutions Ltd. Standard Life is now owned by Phoenix Group; the equity release service carrying the Standard Life name is delivered by Key. If you have Standard Life pensions or insurance products and want equity release through a familiar name, you will in practice be dealing with Key. See: Key equity release — independent overview.
LV= Equity Release
LV= (Liverpool Victoria) has had equity release products available in partnership with specialist lenders. LV= is primarily a life insurance and general insurance brand. Their equity release offering is not their own underwriting but is provided through specialist lender partnerships. If you have LV= insurance products and are enquiring about equity release, confirm who the actual lender is before proceeding.
Who actually provides equity release in the UK
The mainstream equity release market in the UK is served by a group of specialist lenders — none of which are high street banks. The main lenders are Aviva, Legal & General Home Finance, Pure Retirement, Canada Life, More2Life, Just Group, Hodge, and OneFamily.
All of these are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and are members of the Equity Release Council (ERC), the industry body whose standards include the mandatory no-negative-equity guarantee. Their products are lifetime mortgages — loans secured against your property, repaid from the property sale when you die or move permanently into long-term care.
The reason these are specialist lenders rather than mainstream banks relates to the nature of the product. A lifetime mortgage is a long-duration, interest-accruing loan with no fixed repayment date. The lender cannot repossess the property in the normal way. Pricing the loan correctly against life expectancy, property values over a 20–30 year horizon, and the regulatory requirements of ERC membership requires specialist underwriting that mainstream banks have largely not built. Instead, the market has been built by insurers (Aviva, Legal & General, Canada Life, Just Group) who are accustomed to long-duration liabilities, and by specialist lenders (Pure Retirement, More2Life, Hodge) focused exclusively on the later-life market.
What to do if you are considering equity release
Because the equity release market does not sit with the banks you may already know, the practical starting point is different from most financial products. Going directly to one of the specialist lenders is possible in theory, but most lenders do not accept direct applications — their products are distributed through regulated advisers only.
The most efficient route is a whole-of-market equity release adviser. An adviser with whole-of-market access can compare products from all relevant lenders — Aviva, Legal & General, Pure Retirement, Canada Life, More2Life, and others — and recommend the most suitable option for your age, property, health, and what you need the money for. They have a legal duty of suitability, which means their recommendation must be in your best interest.
Do not limit yourself to one lender because of brand recognition. The right lender for your circumstances depends on factors — property type, health conditions, loan amount, ERC structure preference — that only a whole-of-market comparison will reveal.
For more on comparing lenders, see: Best equity release companies — how to compare providers. For more on choosing an adviser: How to choose an equity release adviser.
Reviewed by Chris, CII-qualified equity release specialist · Last reviewed July 2026
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